Low throughput on 2.x

rds_correia

If you did a in-place upgrade, try backing up the config and re-install/re-apply config.

I will most probably do that. In fact I had already thought about that during today.
BTW, this server doesn't have any cd-rom reader. Should I download the memstick image and when it finishes booting up, hit 'I' to start the installer?

@podilarius:

Is there anything setup to limit bandwidth?

No, not really. At first I still considered running the traffic shaping wizard because this is only a 7mbps/800kbps link. But something else came up and then I forgot to do that.
So, if anything is setup to limit bandwidth it must have been in the config when it was still running 1.2.3.
And thanks for your reply :)

podilarius

I had this issue with the traffic shaper enabled. I had to switch to limiter. I have 100Mbs connection and the limiter forced it to only 50. limiter doesn't have a problem. I have not tried it again since 2.1release. I didn't notice a change in the shaper code. You could also run through the config and see if a bug enabled a feature or something.

mokailol

Great to know what I was doing something unexpected.

stephenw10

Check the config file is a good call. It's hard to see what might be causing that sort of restriction.
Bad switch? Bad cable? Check the error/collision count on the Status: Interfaces: page.

Steve

rds_correia

@stephenw10:

Check the config file is a good call. It's hard to see what might be causing that sort of restriction.

Yeah, I know. I've checked the config file but I don't know what I am looking for.
For all I know, everything seems plausible in the xml file.

@stephenw10:

Bad switch?

Checked. It's not the switch, they have a third switch on site (similar to the other 2 I've mentioned) and they configured the trunk port for the vlans and all the other ports in access for the required vlans and the problem is still there.

@stephenw10:

Bad cable?

Checked. We had done that already. Sorry for not mentioning it.

@stephenw10:

Check the error/collision count on the Status: Interfaces: page.

Checked. Status Interfaces does not have any error/collision on any of the NICs. It's been like that ever since we last rebooted the box yesterday in the morning.

Since all the above failed, I took a good look at https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Tuning_and_Troubleshooting_Network_Cards.
This wiki entry mentions bce and em NICs.
So I copied the wiki fixes for both NICs, added them to /boot/loader.conf.local, rebooted and apparently the issue is fixed.
I say apparently because the ADSL modem is synchronized at 7mbps/800kbps and yet all my speedtests are giving me 5mbps/500kbps without any other user connected to the router.
Still looks like very low figures but it is definitely an improvement.

Besides that, they were also suffering a high number of unavailable websites due to a problem in squid :o or shall I say in squid configuration?
Whatever, I removed squid, squidGuard and snort and now everything seems to be working fine.

Also, I am preparing a 2nd box that I will be temporarily put in place while I format and reinstall pfSense 2.1.3 from ground up on the original server.
I will also start with a fresh and new config file. Just in case ;)
Will let you know how it goes after finishing my tests.

podilarius

Which opteron CPU is in that DL365?

stephenw10

Ah, nice. You mentioned having looked at that page in your first post so I assumed you'd added the recommended tweaks already. Never assume anything! ::)

Steve

rds_correia

@podilarius:

Which opteron CPU is in that DL365?

pfSense says it's an Opteron 2216 (Dualcore)

podilarius

That should be enough horsepower for a 7Mbps connection. Are you still seeing only 5Mbps when all the extra service are disabled?

stephenw10

Easily enough power even with all the packages.
It's rare that you can actually get near the sync speed, there is some overhead in DSL.

Steve

podilarius

True, but I think it would be closer to 7, like 6.5 to 6.9. What is the CPU load when you are testing? Are you doing iperf testing with multiple streams?

rds_correia

@podilarius:

Are you doing iperf testing with multiple streams?

^ Sorry, don't know what that is :(
CPU load is usually within 0.5 and 0.8.

I've since installed 2.1.3 from ground up with a new config file from scratch.
Internet speed remains the same but inside the LAN (and the several vlans) it now seems pretty much ok with 11-12MB/s.
I have tested the adsl circuit with my pc connected to the adsl modem and it only gives me 5mbps/500kbps.
Thanks for everybody contributing to this topic :)
Cheers

stephenw10

If there is something throttling your bandwidth it may be doing it on a 'per connection' basis. Many traffic shaping tools work like that. Thus if you open up multiple simultaneous connections you often see an improvement in total throughput. The Speetest.net web site for example loads a local javascript client that opens up to 4 connections to get the best bandwidth reading it can.

Anyway you seem to be sorted though it's always disappointing to fix something without knowing what the problem was. ;)

Steve

rds_correia

@stephenw10:

…though it's always disappointing to fix something without knowing what the problem was. ;)

Exactly. I hate fixing something without knowing what the problem was.
It's like installing Windows again when all it was needed was to change a registry entry.
But I guess it's better than nothing.
Now I'm sure I'll have to open up a new thread for squid/squidGuard and then another one for snort.
Thanks for the support, guys. ;)
Cheers